Hazare drops plan for agitation in Delhi

Ralegan-Siddhi (Maharashtra): Social crusader Anna Hazare on Saturday announced that he has suspended his proposed agitation from October 2 in New Delhi as the Centre had implemented the One Rank One Pension scheme for ex-servicemen and allowed the contentious land acquisition bill to lapse.

Hazare had decided to launch an agitation and hunger strike at Ram Lila Maidan in the national capital from October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and the country’s second prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, to press for the two major demands.

Though these two are no longer issues, the 78-year old leader warned that if the demands of Lokpal and Lokayuktas were not implemented he would launch a new agitation.

He told media persons in his native village in Ahmednagar district here that during his recent travels around the country to build up public awareness on these issues, he received overwhelming response from the masses.

Hazare claimed that several organisations of solders and farmers had also launched agitations in different parts of the country that finally compelled the government to implement OROP and withdraw the land acquisition bill.

He reiterated his stance that the “land acquisition bill is unjust to the farmers” of the country and they had protested against it in a big way everywhere.